How do you gain reputation in Vanilla Guilds?

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
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My understanding is that the game wasn’t as convenient back then and player reputation heavily relied on going the extra mile. (in conjunction with not acting like a moron)

I have no friends IRL who play this game so I will likely joining a Guild with strangers. After seeing countless topics talking about DKP and Lootcouncil I have few questions.

  • What kind of things do Loot council consider when debating loot?

  • I’m really good at farming Gold, will things like donating raid mats and gold for repairs be considered and increase my chances at loot? Or will they see it as I’m trying to buy my way into epics. (also how do you do that with no bank?)

  • Common sense aside what are things I should NOT do?

I’ve never really raided outside of LFR and occasional normals, I really want to succeed in Vanilla.

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With the amount of excitement I have to play wow classic (a return to when wow made sense for me as a first patch TBC starting player) just logging in on my new druid will be a major milestone.

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to be honest i see a lot of red flags here.

you look like someone who would really like a DKP guild.

trying to “buy” reputation in a guild is really easily noticeable. especially after the first “wtf ive given so much why didnt I get it!!”

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4

There are several ways of getting into guilds, you can ask around if anyone is recruiting, either when leveling or when doing dungeons at 60. Also many times guilds will advertise in chat.

Getting accepted is all about prep and attitude, if you know what you should be doing as your class/spec and have some idea how to gear for it chances are you will be accepted into a guild as a trial at the very least, from there you can prove yourself in a raid environment.

Being really good at farming gold will help you in that you will be able to consistently bring consumables to raid, this shows the officers in the guild that you are taking it seriously enough to warrant keeping you on as a member/raider.

A non corrupt loot council will distribute loot to the right people that will help the raid the most, this means if you perform well at your role, show up to all the raids and don’t make the same dumb mistakes over and over that prevent you or the raid from doing well, you should be getting gear at the same rate as the rest.

I think helping the guild with gold or raid mats is always a good thing but I think issues might come up if you use that as a reason why you think you should have gotten a piece of gear or whatever.

Guild banks are typically an alt on the GM’s account or one of the officer’s accounts.

As for succeeding in a raid environment in Classic, the biggest thing is to be consistent and know the fights. You will get better the more you play if you seek to get better. I would say since you are already asking these questions and looking for some advise you will do well in Classic.

There are 40 raid spots in Classic raids (ZG is 20) so there is lots of room for more people.

3 Likes
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Educate me.

I pointed out 1 of my strengths which is farming Gold.

I see in many of the comments that in Vanilla raids people compete with other classes for gear, and majority of the time there is 2-3 people ahead of you for an item. My post originated from that ideology and im basically asking, what creates that queue?

How do the leaders decide who gets it first? What made them stand out? If everyone is fresh I can’t fathom how they come to that conclusion.

Is that bad? (Genuinely don’t know)

I truely meant EARN reputation through good deeds, I will save the buying for PUGS with GBID if needed.

2 Likes
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You’ll have no issues bud.

And, you’re about to have some IRL friends who play this game.

My only tip is… try not to overthink it. Guilds will come looking for you. They need people. Lots of them. And when you join, as long as you’re not overly greedy, they’ll appreciate you and you’ll appreciate them.

2 Likes
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Do you show up to raids on time? Do you execute the fights correctly consistently? Are you a good teammate? Do make yourself available to your guildmates or find ways to contribute?

Have a positive attitude. Interact with your guildmates; be involved. Don’t publicly air dirty laundry. Understand that you’re sharing a space with people who have different backgrounds and experiences than you do, so find a way to be tolerant of attitudes that may not necessarily agree with yours. Find a way to get along. Don’t ever EVER ask to be an officer.

3 Likes
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Donating and stuff helps but I wouldn’t expect anything in return except for good standing with the leaders and officers.

Best thing you can do is try to be that “model” guildmate. Help others and such when needed. I know you can make alot of warrior friends by helping them with the whirlwind axe quest at level 30, or paladin friends (if you plan to play alliance) in the late teens and 20s with Verigan’s Fist. Be punctual for events like raids or dungeons or organized PvP, that sort of thing. Even help people outside of your guild, so it makes your guild look good as well.

You know, just be helpful and whatnot mostly. Like I said donating doesn’t mean much to anybody except guild leaders and officers, and all that does is put you in their good graces.

Even if you’re “he who is without sin”, I still wouldn’t expect an increase in loot, however.

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If you find a guild early on, help other levelers with dungeons and quests that require grouping. This is the kind of thing that will be appreciated more than throwing gold into the bank.

1 Like
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Well, as I’m likely going to be a member on the loot council (tank lead) in my Classic guild, I can give you a few pointers.

The first thing to understand that’s a big difference between retail and Classic is how much loot matters and how rare it is. Bosses only drop two pieces of loot for 40 people, and Classic is predominantly gear checks until you get to Naxxramas.

A loot council’s job is to distribute loot in a way that best benefits the progression of the raid, so that you can kill more bosses in the most efficient way possible. Typically, this means prized pieces of loot will be given out in a way that maximizes the raid’s performance; often this means awarding loot to the top performers and people with the best attendance in the raid. Note, however, that it’s a bad strategy to constantly pile loot on the same people, so often they will factor in how big of an upgrade it is. If your best mage already has good gear, but your second best mage is wearing a pile of crap, then you would hands down give it to the second best mage, because that’s the largest potential DPS increase. Make sense?

EDIT: Decisions are often resolved by vote, and the additional tie breaker we use is /roll.

There are other common rules like giving your main tanks priority on a lot of gear, because the amount of threat they put out is an effective cap on the total amount of DPS your raid can do without pulling threat and wiping the raid. So increasing that cap is the easiest way to increase raid DPS.

The true reality of it is, no one gets geared quickly in Vanilla. It just doesn’t happen. You’ll get loot eventually; it’s just a means to clearing the content, after all.

As to your second question, farming gold and consumables (which are heavily, heavily needed in Vanilla) is very much appreciated, and a core to any successful raid. That being said, I don’t know how much it will factor in to loot council decisions, if at all. It will, however, make people think of you in a positive light and appreciate you. Even if you aren’t raiding, but you’re farming that Black Lotus for the guild, you’re a true hero.

Lastly, do not go into Classic focusing on loot. It is a very bad look, and people will not appreciate this. Loot is just the souvenirs of the journey. Keep rolling along, and the loot will come naturally.

3 Likes
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It varies, but high raid attendance and current gear plays a big part. Most loot councils aim to gear the raid in a way that benefits the raid the most and helps the guild progress. A well run loot council shouldn’t be giving gear to someone just because they are donating time, gold and or materials. For example, if you have 4 that all show up prepared and on time every week, they should all be geared fairly evenly. Maybe they will give that one awesome item to you first if you are going above and beyond, but you are unlikely to gear any faster than the other 3.

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Dude, to much deep thought in a simple concept. Join a guild, make friends, help each other, progress together. It’s that simple!

In my Vanilla days, I was on silvermoon because the name sounded cool. I knew nothing about Warcraft at all. I joined Playground Bullies when it was just people making friends. We had no plans to raid or any of that crazy stuff. We were just having fun, next thing I know we were all in T2+.

My point is, let things happen. If you want to experience top tier content, the best path is just make lots of friends, be courteous, be helpful and ask for help. You’ll build a lot of relationships that can grow to raiding, pvp groups, hard to get craft items, etc… all because you worked to be a friendly member of your server community.

Do t worry about getting gear right now. Worry about having fun and playing the mmo. Gear and progress will come!

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So if you’re good at gold farming and you’re sending those consumables to the guild leaders alt (bank) and they use those during raid. Yes I’d argue that is worth some loot. You’re actively making sure not only you are prepared for raid, but others.

If you feel you’re not getting enough loot for your efforts (not every piece of loot, but enough so you’re not last to get loot). Leave. Pretty soon the guild will need to go back to getting their own consumables. Then they’ll finally understand what you brought to the table.

It’s easy to look at DPS meters and forget the behind the scenes stuff.

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You’re asking an unusual question here… Earning a reputation with real people is not a formulaic approach like you would use with to earn faction rep in WoW.

Look for a guild of people who you fit in with. Participate and do things with the guild. Donations are good but they are not the only thing considered. As other people have mentioned, be on time to raids, know the fights, be prepare with consumables.

A DKP guild is generally easier for people to see where they stand because the rules for gaining or losing DKP are pretty straight forward and you can often see exactly how much DKP you have. A loot council is more ambiguous. Run well a loot council gets the gear to the people who need it to make the guild more successful (e.g. the main tank or healer, etc.) but run poorly they are an abomination where being in the main clique with the council is more important than being good at your role or helpful to the guild.

One or the other may be a better fit for you personally but either way focus on making friends and working together and you’ll find a place.

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Typical decision will be on which player has the best attendance, the best performance, comes with consumables/preparation and how it benefits the raid.

Referring to DKP, not it isn’t bad it’s just another system. With DKP (Dragon Kill Points) you earn points for attending raids and downing bosses. You spend these points in bids on items that you want. Some guilds will reward DKP for things that help the guild outside of raids, like gold and consumables.

The best way to earn that reputation is to work on being a good and consistent player that others want to play with.

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I’ve sat on loot councils in every raiding guild I’ve been in. Here is what the council is looking for:

  1. Attendance. If you’re not showing up you’re not getting gear.
  2. Performance. How well you perform with your current gear level. If you out perform others in your class you will have higher priority.
  3. Effort. If you show up to start raiding in the best gear you can get pre-raid, come with consumables and repaired then you’ll have a higher priority compared to those that don’t.
  4. Activity. If you just login for raids, don’t help with guild runs and don’t participate in guild events then you are most likely viewed as a filler and won’t have as high a priority.

You can donate as much as you want but if you aren’t showing up for raids, performing well and doing everything you can to be prepared with consumables and best possible gear then your donations will not help with your reputation.

That being said, the guilds I have been in also reward contributors like yourself when they are also great players. Items like Onyxia Hide Bag or class items (Ancient Leaf, Benediction) will often go to players that are top of their class for their gear levels, are active in guild and contribute extra.

2 Likes
17

Everyone likes to get loot. But my advice is to NOT give the impression that loot for yourself is your primary motivation. You don’t want to develop a reputation as a treasure goblin. Sure, donating stuff to the guild bank is a good thing, but you also don’t want to look like a new student bringing a bouquet of flowers for the teacher. And besides, my view was always that everyone should be farming their own raid mats anyway, and not relying on stuff from the guild bank.

Anyway, my advice is to concentrate on YOU first. Be the best player you can be. Have a good spec. Gear out in 5-mans. Enchant your gear. Bring consumables for yourself. Study your class and learn to play well. Learn to stay alive and not stand in the fire. Be at every raid on time. Study the fights beforehand. Be friendly to your guild mates. All of that will get you noticed and recognized as a valuable member of the team more than donating to the guild bank.

Remember it’s not about you and any rewards you may or may not feel you deserve. That’s not how the officers look at it. It’s about the team, and its progression. And if you work to become the best player you can be, then you are contributing to the team’s success and officers will notice. As far as loot, the best way to get loot is for the team to succeed and kill more bosses, because then everyone gets more loot.

[edited by Forum Moderator: Please review the Code of Conduct we have available as a guide for forum use to prevent any future action. This post has been edited due to masked language.]

1 Like
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It’s probably been said many times, but this is how I see it.

Good loot council is fair. The goal is to give items to those who need it most and that will help the guild progress. The idea is that it’s not about how geared individuals are. It’s all about progressing as a guild.

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If you truly want to succeed, then you should probably find people who are going to play the given faction you want and start playing with them. Vanilla was hardly monolithic in guild treatment of people but the best way to go about it is to just play with a group of people and build up a rapport.
Step outside your comfort zone and do whatever activity the group as a whole wants. In the end, you will enjoy the game more if you go into it with people who have each others backs and have at least a rudimentary working knowledge of each other as a team.

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Helping people, donating probably won’t give you much reputation to people other then to the bank handler.
Doing dungeons with random guilds, doing raids.

Would be better to pay guilds to run you for a piece of gear though some may screw you.

Leveling with people is one way to gain reputation and going dungeons with those people.